Georges Street (21 January 1854 – 6 February 1908) was a German-born French composer.

Life

He was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, the son of Agnes Street-Klindworth (1825–1906) and an unknown father. His mother had briefly been married to a Paris-born Englishman, Ernest Denis-Street, and her son, christened Ernst August Georg, was given the surname Street. Agnes had an affair with the composer

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

in the mid-1850s, and some suspected that Liszt was the boy's father. In 1868, Agnes moved to Paris together with her widowed father and her sons Georges and Charles.Walker, p. 223. Street showed musical talent, which his mother encouraged. He took violin lessons with

Hubert Léonard Hubert Léonard (7 April 1819 – 6 May 1890) was a famous Belgian violinist, born in Liège. His earliest preparatory training was given by a prominent teacher of the time, , after which he entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1836. There he stu ...

and became a follower and supporter of

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

. Together with

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...

Maurice Lefèvre Maurice Lefèvre (1863-1917) was a Belgian poet, playwright and songwriter. He was a leading figure in Paris around the end of 19th century and start of the 20th century. Life Maurice Lefèvre was born in 1863. He became one of the best known art ...

and

Raoul Pugno Stéphane Raoul Pugno (23 June 1852) was a French composer, teacher, organist, and pianist known for his playing of Mozart's works. Biography Raoul Pugno was born in Paris and was of Italian origin. He made his debut at the age of six, and with t ...

, Street regularly played through the score of Bizet's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'', which they regarded as "the opera of the century". The musical scholar

Alan Walker Alan Olav Walker (born 24 August 1997) is a British-born Norwegian music producer and DJ primarily known for the critically acclaimed single " Faded" (2015), which was certified platinum in 14 countries. He has also made several songs including ...

comments that it was partly due to the advocacy of Street and Messager that the Paris Opéra took ''Carmen'' into its regular repertory. Street and Messager collaborated to compose the score of the 1891 ballet ''Scaramouche'', to a scenario by Lefèvre and Henri Vuagneux. Street's

opérette This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

''Mignonette'' (1896), was a parody of Ambroise Thomas's opera '' Mignon'', written thirty years earlier. Street's other theatre works include ''Au profit des pauvres'', ''Le Dernier des Muelshausen'', ''Kaen'', and ''La Grande légende''. Later in his career, Street became music critic for the newspapers ''L'Éclair'' and '' Le Matin'', and was the founding editorial secretary of the latter.Pocknell, p. lxix. Street died in Paris at the age of fifty-four.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Street, Georges 1854 births 1908 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century French musicians French ballet composers French operetta composers German emigrants to France